No study of 19th and early 20th century local history is
complete without reference to local newspapers. This may appear to be a large
claim, but there is enough evidence to make it justifiable.

The Staffordshire Advertiser was founded in 1795 and
published in Stafford. The proprietor was Joshua Drewry. (He is credited with
the revival of horse racing in Stafford in 1806.) By the middle of the 19th
century the paper was reporting events from every quarter of the county, as well
as events outside, and including parliamentary debates. Divisions in the House
of Commons were carefully recorded so that everyone in Staffordshire knew how
his MP had voted. News from the Staffordshire moorlands was complemented by
reports of events in Walsall or Wolverhampton. Similarly Burton and Tamworth in
the east were balanced by reports from the Shropshire and Cheshire borders in
the west and north. For the North Staffordshire area there was a division
between the Potteries and Newcastle. Audley usually featured under the latter,
occasionally on its own. It was a populous parish: by 1893 the population stood
at 12,936, the parish of Newcastle 18,452; Betley 827; Keele 1,090; Eccleshall
3,878.

The newspaper was published weekly, on Saturday; at first
with four pages, but later with eight. Each page had seven columns of closely
spaced print. Typographical errors were very rare. The papers may be read in
Keele University Library; microfilm is also available.

The Advertiser regularly published its circulation figures.
For example, 425,633 copies were sold in 1854, a weekly issue of 8,185. These
figures compare very favourably with the newly formed Staffordshire Sentinel
with its circulation of 66,000, a weekly issue of 1,269 copies.

As its title suggests, it gained revenue from all sorts of
front page advertising - from patent medicines with their fantastic claims, to
Masonic dinners (publicised more than they are today); to imported fertilizer,
and, always, various kinds of property sales. On 4th January 1845 there was a
notice of an auction at the Boughey Arms, Audley, on 15th January, for the
purpose of selling timber:

The following LOTS of TREES growing on Farms and Woods
situate in the Parish of Audley.... LOT 1 43 Oak Trees, numbered 1 to 43; 2
Ash Trees, numbered 1 & 2; growing at Knowl End Farm in the occupation of Mr
John Bibby.

There were eleven lots altogether, with Oak, Ash, Elm, Beech,
Alder growing on John Tomkinson’s Moat Farm in Lot 2. In Lot 3 there was Oak and
Ash at Domvilles farm, "in the occupation of William Steele."

The word occupation suggests tenancy rather than ownership as
in the case of Mrs Glover at Park Lane, and another by John Wrench, with
Brookholes Hill Wood occupied by Mrs Smith. On the other hand Ralph Warburton
owns the trees at Bignal (sic) End, as well as another farm. Daniel Booth is
also described as the owner of Wall Farm.

The final paragraph of the advertisement shows the need to
pinpoint Audley’s place on the map:

The superior quality of the Timber renders it well worth
the attention of the Trade. It is situate within 4 miles of the Trent and
Mersey Canal; and 7 miles from the Staffordshire Potteries. Audley is
distant from the Crewe and Basford stations about 6 miles, and 7 from the
Whitmore Station on the Grand Junction Railway and 5 from Newcastle.

It is worth noting the importance of Whitmore Station in the
late 1830s and early 40s, both for goods and passengers. Among the latter was
the squire of Whitmore, Captain Rowland Mainwaring, who regularly began his
journeys to London from Whitmore Station.

The Staffordshire Advertiser reported events far and wide
especially disasters of various kinds - towns burning in the United States,
shipwrecks everywhere. The Crimean War 1854-56 caught the public imagination.
the paper recorded a speech by Lord Cardigan justifying the Charge of the Light
Brigade. Some weeks earlier the people of Audley had contributed to the
PATRIOTIC FUND. This was reported on 13th January, 1855:

The amount contributed in the Parish of Audley ....
inclusive of the donations of the residential gentry, and collections in
surrounding collieries is £13 3s 4d. This does not include the portions of
Audley situate in Talke O’the Hill, Chesterton and Harecastle. The money [at
today’s values several thousands] has been paid into Newcastle Old Bank by
Mr James Dean, the sub treasurer.

The mining industry produced many news items, not least the
tragedy of mining disasters with harrowing accounts of grief and deprivation,
but also stories of community resilience, often in the form of subscription
lists for widows and orphans. Yet the undoubted hazards of the mining industry
did nothing to retard the search for new coal measures. The Advertiser stated on
16th January 1892:

The Talk O’ the Hill Colliery Company (Limited) after
extensive operations extending over two years, have come upon eight feet or
Cockshead seam and seven feet Banbury, both seams being of excellent quality
and thickness. The new coalfield will be equal to an output of a thousand
tons a day for the next forty five years.

There was always sympathy for the casualties of coal mining.
The bereaved, orphaned and widowed received some help, but there was never any
question that the death of the bread winner would bring adequate compensation.
Mining was a dangerous occupation and accidents inevitable. There is an account
of a concert held in the schoolroom at Halmerend in 1883 that illustrates the
attitude to coal getting. It was held for the benefit of the widows of Halmerend
and Alsagers Bank with Walter Palmer of Reading presiding. He was a coal owner
and he told the audience that

there was no object more deserving of their support...
and they must do their best to make these concerts a success. They all knew
the dangers which had to be encountered in mines, and their deepest sympathy
was due to the widows of the men who were cut off by accident.

Palmer’s speech was not without irony since he thanked his
listeners

in very warm and graceful terms for the presentation made
to him and his wife on their marriage last year by the employé
s at the colliery, and said that he should always be glad to do them any
service, and especially such a one as he had the pleasure of performing that
evening.

It was announced at the concert that in 1882 about sixty five
or seventy widows in the district had been provided with a good tea and four
shillings each. One of the officials, Ernest Craig, said that

it was not a very large sum, but it must be remembered
that at this season of the year it was a great help to poor people and very
acceptable.

Deprivation of one kind or another may be a cause of criminal
behaviour and Audley had its share of law breakers. The 1840s saw a dramatic
rise in social unrest stemming from economic depression, unemployment, low pay,
harshly applied welfare provision, overcrowding, severe environmental pollution
and political agitation. It is no accident that Staffordshire’s County
Constabulary was founded in October 1842. In Audley a number of local people,
with something to lose, established their Association for the Prosecution of
Felons and listed its rewards - £5 5s for anyone who had helped to convict a
capital offender; £3 3s for the conviction of anyone sentenced to
transportation. The newspaper, besides advertising rewards also listed the
members of the association. Here is a selection from over fifty names: Sir
Thomas Boughey, Joseph Booth Esq, John Booth, Daniel Booth, John Bibby, Thomas
Beech, Daniel Burgess, John Burgess, Charles Brassington, J.S. Caldwell Esq,
Charles Fryer, John Hilditch, Joseph Jackson, Mary Lawton, Samuel Richardson,
Ellen Riley, George Steele, G Tollet Esq, George Wrench, Ralph Warburton.

Most of the offences reported by the Staffordshire Advertiser
are of dishonesty, although occasionally there are accounts of much more serious
offences. For example there was the case of two poachers who had murdered a
gamekeeper’s son and were executed. With something akin to relish the newspaper
commented on their execution:

Whilst they were engaged in prayer the drop fell, and the
world closed over them forever.

Petty thieving was much more common and Audley does not
differ from other areas. In February 1855 Eliza Steel, a domestic servant of J
Beardsmore, a miller of Butt Lane, was charged for

stealing moneys (sic) the property of her master. The
prisoner had been in the prosecution’s service about a month.

She had stolen four sovereigns, and was caught as a result of
stealing some marked half crowns. She was committed for trial.

A week later a fight between two women was reported. This
happened at Halmerend. Mary Bostock charged Elizabeth Gibbons with assault

.

The complainant, rather a portly looking young woman, on
whose countenance were traces of two shocking black eyes...

The argument was over the possession of a night cap. Mrs
Gibbons was fined sixpence, but had to pay 9s 6d costs.

Not all accounts of law breaking were concerned with violence
and theft. In September 1880 a fishmonger, John Bryan, was charged with selling
herrings in Audley that were unfit for human consumption. Under the Public
Health Act Bryan could have been fined £20 for each rotten herring, and because
he had a barrel containing 214, the prosecutor, T Shemalt, calculated that Bryan
could face a fine of £4,280! A defence witness said that he had eaten some of
the herrings and in his opinion they were good. The Chairman of the Bench was
not convinced:

... the fish he saw were thoroughly bad... Mr Twemlow
said that in view of the great amount of sickness which was prevalent in the
country it was necessary that the public should be prevented from having
putrid food sold to them. He understood that this was the defendant’s first
offence, but he would be fined £2 and 31s 6d costs.

A menace of another kind to the people of Audley came in the
form of a cartload of gunpowder - presumably used at the local pits - that was
not carried with care:

Thomas Shuker farmer Audley was summoned on the 2nd
instant (April 1883) improperly conveyed gunpowder on the highway at Ravens
Lane... The cart contained a ton of gunpowder and was covered with torn
sheets (produced), through the holes in which packages of gun powder were
visible... Mr Twemlow said that the Government Inspectors had stated that
the Act was not strictly observed as it should be and the penalty for this
offence must be a substantial one. A fine of £5 and costs was imposed.

There were many lighter moments. The Victorians loved local
entertainments and the people of Audley played and sang with obvious gusto
whenever the opportunity arose. Here is a typical account in January 1893:

On Monday evening a concert in aid of the Methodist New
Connexion funds was given in the National School. The principals were Miss J
Sims (soprano), Miss J Edwards Denbighshire (contralto), Mr J Smith (tenor),
Mr W Riley (bass), Mr Geo Clarke (solo violin) and Mr J Billington (humorous
reciter): accompanist Mr Geo Riley. The Brothers Brough Glee Party was also
in attendance. A good programme was creditably maintained.

In the 1960s there was a regular boast by a Sunday newspaper
that within its pages "all human life is here". The implication being that the
darker side of social behaviour would not be neglected. A strong case could be
made for the Staffordshire Advertiser that long ago it had reached that
objective, showing its readership a broader view of human existence than many a
modern mass circulation paper. Patient study of the Advertiser is strongly
recommended to the social historian and to anyone who believes, like Kenneth
Clark, that because human nature has not changed much we must still try to learn
from history: "History is ourselves."

The Staffordshire Advertiser provides a picture of the county
in general, shows Audley in a period of great social change, and makes a useful
backdrop to the study of almost every aspect of Staffordshire life.